Enterprise Product Operations: Scaling a Modular Learning Architecture

Launch Project

Role

Product Manager & Systems Strategist

Impact

~70% Reduction in Dev Time

Focus

Systems Thinking & ROI

TLDR

Initially hired to deliver a single flagship course, I identified that the organization’s primary bottleneck was not content, but fragmented operational workflows and technical debt. I reframed the initiative from a "one-off" launch to a platform-wide infrastructure project. By designing a Product Design System & Component Library and a standardized production workflow, I enabled the organization to scale its offerings while cutting development time by nearly 70%.

Systemic Win: Transformed a fragmented, high-friction production cycle into a repeatable, high-velocity system.
Efficiency Metric: Reduced future product development time by ~65–70%.
Consistency Metric: Improved visual and instructional alignment by 80% across the portfolio.

Overview

I was initially tasked with developing a single learning product. Early discovery revealed that repeated failed launches were not due to content quality, but to systemic issues in structure, tooling, and collaboration. Rather than optimizing one course in isolation, I reframed the initiative as a platform and process problem. I led the design and rollout of a scalable product offering strategy and eLearning framework that enabled the organization to consistently build, update, and launch future courses, transforming how learning products were delivered across the organization.

The Problem

Despite years of subject-matter expertise, the organization struggled to launch products due to a lack of shared infrastructure.

The Friction: Every project was treated as a "special case," leading to inconsistent branding, tool sprawl, and massive manual rework.
The Stakeholder Gap: Misalignment between designers, researchers, and engineers led to "stalled" launches and frustrated cross-functional teams.
The Cost: Unsustainable delivery timelines and a ballooning budget for single-unit launches.

The Solution

I repositioned the initiative by asking a critical strategic question: “How do we stop shipping projects and start shipping a system?” This shifted the focus to building a Product Design System & Component Library that prioritized:

Modular Architecture: WCAG-aligned, reusable components that work natively within the platform.
Workflow Automation: Standardized naming conventions and collaboration protocols that removed the "guessing game" for engineers.
Governance: Clear documentation that acted as the single "Source of Truth" for all future development.

Key Product Decisions & Strategic Trade-offs

Standardization Over Customization

The Trade-off: We restricted unique, "one-off" visual flourishes for individual modules.
The Strategic Result: Velocity. By creating a rigid design system, we drastically reduced QA cycles and eliminated the technical debt of maintaining hundreds of unique CSS/HTML overrides.

2. Platform-Native Implementation

The Trade-off: We intentionally bypassed "flashy" third-party tools that added complexity but didn't integrate deeply with the core platform.
The Strategic Result: UX Consistency & Stability. This lowered the learning curve for users and significantly reduced platform maintenance costs by eliminating "tool sprawl" and external API dependencies.

3. Low-Barrier Collaboration (Miro-First)

The Trade-off: We used low-fidelity Miro boards for early stakeholder alignment instead of jumping straight into high-fidelity prototypes.
The Strategic Result: Inclusion & Accuracy. This allowed non-technical Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to contribute to the logic of the system before a single line of code was written, preventing expensive upstream rework.

Execution: Bridging Design & Engineering

As the connective layer between strategy and execution, I led the rollout through:

Agile Audits: Deconstructed legacy workflows to identify "waste" and redundant cycles.
Cross-Functional Alignment: Facilitated workshops and meetings to define success criteria that satisfied both the "Learning Science" requirements and the "Product ROI" goals.
Infrastructure as a Product: I treated the resulting templates and documentation as a "First-Class Product," recognizing that the system was the true value-add for the organization's long-term growth.

Outcomes & Organizational Impact

"By investing in the engine, we made the individual journeys 70% faster."

Successful Launch of the flagship product that had been stalled for years.
Establishment of a "Reference Architecture" now used for all subsequent organization-wide initiatives.
~70% Reduction in the time required to move a new product from concept to launch.
80% Improvement in cross-platform consistency, significantly strengthening the brand’s professional market presence.

Retrospective: Lessons in Leverage

This project confirmed my belief that Operational Infrastructure is a Value Driver. When you solve for the system, you aren't just saving time, you are freeing up human creativity to focus on the problems that actually matter.

Next Strategic Move: For an organization at this scale, the next logical step would be Automated Lifecycle Management. By implementing data-triggered updates to the modular system, every "child" product can stay healthy and updated automatically, eliminating technical debt before it starts.